Rethinking Drinking
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There are many reasons why it’s a good idea to limit or eliminate alcohol from your diet, but here’s one reason that many don’t know about: Alcohol use is a known cancer risk. This was established in the 1980s, and scientific evidence continues to mount. In January, the US Surgeon General issued an advisory that identified alcohol use as the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the US, after tobacco and obesity. The advisory noted that drinking alcohol raises your risk of getting several specific types of cancer including mouth, throat (pharynx), voice box (larynx), esophagus, colon and rectum, liver, and breast (in women) cancers. Alcohol use contributes to nearly 100,000 cancer cases per year, or nearly 1 million preventable cancer cases over a decade. This translates to 20,000 cancer deaths annually. There are other dangers related to alcohol use, such as the 13,000+ annual alcohol-impaired driving fatalities which comprise nearly a third of all fatal car accidents. April is Alcohol Awareness Month. If you’d like to practice more mindful drinking or eliminate alcohol consumption entirely to improve your health, here are some steps you can take:
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